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Been on vacation (thank God for that!) and just read your response, Matthew, to the humorous piece about the devil replacing personal relationship with Jesus with materialistic belongings, Santa and Easter bunnies, etc. Though that piece is humorous, I felt you scored in your response -- especially since in more recent posts, the very nature of traditional religious forms (old wineskins) has been spotlighted.
You pointed out that not only does the devil love to "consume our time", but "he infests us with religion". (Note quote from your post, below.)
That's a serious and accurate observation. Think about it for a moment: What the New Testament describes as the lifestyle of a follower of Jesus is to live in a relationship to Him, led by His Spirit in a daily walk. And according to 1Cor 3, that is what will result in "gold, silver & precious stones" instead of "wood, hay & stubble" being built up on the Foundation (Whice "foundation" is a Person, a Person called "Jesus".)
But many, many local churches offer their members lists of activities (called "ministries") and codes of behavior (called "holy living") which don't require the inward Presence or the Leading of Jesus. Instead of a Believer having to get up in the morning (so to speak) and turn in full dependance on the indwelling HS for direction and empowerment, they can think things like, "O.K. This is Tuesday so God wants me to go to the park tonight with the evangelistic team and witness, and I better read my 5 chapters before breakfast, too." When a person has either "worked out" their own, daily "religious pattern" or has received such a pattern of "what it means to be a Christian" from the local church they attend, they don't need to rely on the Presence of Jesus or the fresh Word of His leading. (This, BTW, is exactly what eating from the Tree of the Knowledge of Good and Evil is -- and who cares that Daddy Dearest did it because church-goers are still eating from that same spiritual Tree today.)
Literally, this "infestation of religion" (as you aptly labeled it) may easily have disengaged more people from daily, moment-by-moment dependence on the indwelling Christ than any amount of Santas, bunnies, dances, Harry Potter books or the other "evils" held up as the "devil's strategies against the church".
Emil & Shell Swift
On Jul 6, 08, at 7:45 AM, matthew Oliver wrote:
Yes - I do believe that the devil would love to consume our time
but where he fails at that, he infests us with religion, condemnation
and tries to engage us in a competition for souls
why compete - just OVERCOME
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